2007-02-11 20:44:18 · 8 answers · asked by Glow in the Dark 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Safety
Hello????? How can you possibly expect a train that weighs hundreds of TONS to stop immediately? Did you ever take any science classes in school?
2007-02-11 20:47:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Think of the weight the train (tons) is pulling and how much momentum is it taking at full speed. There is no way for the train to stop so abruptly (already an airplane takes a long time to break after landing)...and even if it could...most people inside the train wouldn't be wearing a seatbelt, so you can imagine that they would be thrown and slammed really hard if the train stopped within 5 seconds.
2007-02-11 20:50:04 · answer #2 · answered by gnomus12 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try running as fast as you can and then stopping -- immediately. It is impossible.
The trains go slower through certain areas, but can be moving along at great speeds in more open areas. If the engineer can see someone crossing, unless the train is already slowing, it's probably too late. Then again, if the engineer doesn't slow the train correctly, the train can derail, perhaps causing even more injuries or deaths.
2007-02-12 09:05:40 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The emergency stopping distance of an 8 car passenger train at 79MPH is over a mile. The message is don't expect a train to stop for you.
2007-02-11 20:54:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you get into classes in science or physics, you will study the meaning of the word "momentum". Just as a car traveling a high rate of speed cannot stop in an instant, and may skid on its wheels for a hundred feet or more, the brakes on a train cannot stop the train weighing hundreds of tons going forward in less than a quarter mile. There is too much momentum--too much weight travelling too fast foreward to stop suddenly.
2007-02-11 20:55:09 · answer #5 · answered by JOHN B 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Physics. Newton's first law of motion, the law of inertia, says that an object in motion will continue to be in motion until an opposing force acts upon it.
In the case of a train, steel wheels on steel track cannot counteract thousands of tons of inertial mass immediately.
Think about how fast your car would stop if it had hard plastic wheels instead of rubber.
2007-02-12 01:05:25 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well...I don't mean to sound like a Smart A$$ on this one. But you try to stop a 100 ton solid steel locomotive going at 30 + MPH.
2007-02-11 20:47:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The sheer mass of a train creates a kenetic energy so great that the metal to metal friction (wheel to track) cannot stop the train in an efficient difference.
2007-02-11 20:49:05 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Physics. Trains are very very heavy so it takes time and distance for them to stop.
2007-02-11 20:46:38 · answer #9 · answered by Ace Master Han 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋